(The Center Square) – Democrat Roy Cooper wants to “make stuff cost less” and Republican Michael Whatley is pushing to keep his party’s majority in order to enact the agenda of second-term Republican President Donald Trump.
North Carolina’s seat in the U.S. Senate, held by second-term Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, has been the state's headline act for the 2026 midterms since each formally declared to run in July 2025. Tillis a month earlier said he would escape the Beltway gridlock and not seek reelection, having supported Trump better than 9 in 10 times during his tenure amid some very public spats on routes to outcomes.
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